European Consumers' Organisation

BEUC, the European Consumers' Organisation, acts as the umbrella group in Brussels for its members and its main task is to represent them at European level and defend the interests of all Europe's consumers. BEUC investigates EU decisions and developments likely to affect consumers, with a special focus on five areas identified as priorities by its members: Financial Services, Food, Digital Rights, Consumer Rights & Enforcement and Sustainability.

A big step closer to group actions anywhere in the EU — 26 March 2019, 14:09 CET

The European Parliament has confirmed in a plenary vote today that it wants citizens in all EU countries to be able to go to court as a group if a company has caused damages on a mass scale.

Deal reached to improve enforcement of consumer law — 22 March 2019, 11:45 CET

The EU has struck a deal that should see consumers better protected when a company breaks the law.

EU authorities supervising financial markets to get stronger and long-awaited consumer protection powers — 21 March 2019, 15:51 CET

The EU has struck a deal to strengthen and better fund the authorities which are responsible for supervising financial markets at EU level.

Member States push for more consumer law enforcement without going the full mile — 01 March 2019, 21:01 CET

Representatives of EU Member States have reached a position that more needs to be done to protect consumers from companies that break consumer law, particularly by strengthening the penalties national authorities can impose. National governments also want to provide consumers with the right to terminate the contract, or to get compensation in case of damages, when they are faced with an unfair practice.

Opportunity lost: Parliament rejects possibility to make driving history count — 13 February 2019, 18:16 CET

Today the European Parliament voted on new rules regarding motor insurance.

EU concludes reform with stronger guarantee rights for consumers in future — 30 January 2019, 00:17 CET

The EU institutions have approved a deal which includes rights for consumers of digital content and services like software, streaming or game downloads for the first time. The deal also covers users if they provide personal data instead of money to access the service or the software.

More enforcement of consumer law and better rights in digital economy, demand MEPs — 22 January 2019, 13:46 CET

The European Parliament committee for the internal market (IMCO) is pushing for stronger rules when companies do not abide by EU consumer law. Enforcement is rightly seen as the weak link in consumer protection rules.

EU gives up in bid to help consumers on currency conversion scam - adopts consumer-friendly stance in cross-border payments — 19 December 2018, 17:55 CET

The EU institutions have reached a deal which will not prevent a currency conversion scam that affects travellers.

Major reform of EU electricity market: consumer benefits — 19 December 2018, 16:46 CET

EU legislators have agreed to new electricity market rules which will apply for the coming decade and beyond.

Deal reached: New CO2 emission targets for cars to spur cleaner driving for all Europeans — 18 December 2018, 21:02 CET

CO2 emissions are directly related to our cars' fuel economy. Reducing them will benefit the environment, public health and our wallets. Today's decision is an important milestone to lower the cost of driving - with projected fuel savings of up to thousands of euros over the next decade – and push car makers to place low-emission and fuel-efficient cars on the market.

Deal opens door to broadcasting of content across the EU — 13 December 2018, 23:33 CET

Today, negotiators from the European Parliament and Member State governments concluded a deal to open up broadcasters' TV programmes, series and news content for online viewers living in another EU country.

Consumer groups take up fight against unfair 'no-show' clause in airline tickets — 10 December 2018, 14:26 CET

Today several consumer groups are taking action against the use of 'no-show' clauses in airline tickets. This clause prevents passengers from using the return leg of an airline ticket, or the remainder of an itinerary, if they didn’t use the first leg, for whatever reason.

National governments want strong consumer guarantee rights — 07 December 2018, 12:24 CET

Member States have adopted their position on a proposal to reform the guarantee rights consumers enjoy when buying goods. National governments decided to modernise consumer rights whilst respecting specific national rules.

MEPs in real push to make group actions for consumers possible everywhere in EU — 06 December 2018, 13:58 CET

Members of the Legal Affairs Committee (JURI) in the EU Parliament today supported the idea that consumers everywhere in the EU should be able to go to court as a group if they have been harmed by the same trader.

Consumer groups across Europe file complaints against Google for breach of GDPR — 27 November 2018, 13:39 CET

Today, seven consumer organisations from across Europe have announced that they will file complaints against Google with their national data protection authorities. Based on new research published today by BEUC’s Norwegian member Forbrukerrådet, the consumer groups, all part of the BEUC network, are referring Google to their respective national authorities for breaching the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in relation to how the company tracks its users’ location.

EU Parliament wants rail passenger rights beefed up — 15 November 2018, 21:04 CET

The European Parliament today voted to upgrade rail passenger rights.

European Parliament formally adopts new telecom rules and caps expensive intra-EU calls — 14 November 2018, 20:33 CET

The European Parliament has today formally confirmed the deal reached last June between MEPs and Member States on a broad reform of the EU’s telecoms rules.

Long-delayed EU strategy on hormone disrupting chemicals - roll out is matter of urgency — 07 November 2018, 17:26 CET

Chemicals which change our hormonal system, so-called endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), are linked to severe health problems, including infertility, obesity, cancer and genital malformations. Today, the European Commission published a strategy on how the EU can address EDCs - a long overdue update to an earlier 1999 strategy.

European Parliament adopts new EU law to cut farm antimicrobial use — 25 October 2018, 13:23 CET

Today, the plenary of the European Parliament adopted a long-awaited law which will restrict the use of antimicrobials in food-producing animals and thus help to fight antimicrobial resistance.

'New Deal for Consumers' - clear improvement but not the needed quantum leap — 12 April 2018, 17:17 CET

The European Commission proposed on 11 April to give teeth to consumer law by publishing proposals which include tougher sanctions for companies that act illegally and a limited collective compensation tool (collective redress) across the EU.

Dangerous consumer goods found in high numbers in EU — 12 March 2018, 15:52 CET

In 2017, more than 2,000 non-food products failing safety requirements were notified to the EU’s rapid alert system (RAPEX). This figure might however only show the tip of the iceberg because of insufficient market checks.

Disappointing vote puts some consumer rights up for the chop — 22 February 2018, 12:45 CET

Consumer protection in the EU for the purchase of goods could be weakened following a poor vote in the European Parliament Internal Market (IMCO) Committee today. Members of the committee decided to remove the free choice of remedies which currently exists in several countries when a consumer discovers a fault with a product he bought.

Insufficient changes to terms and conditions of social media giants show need for real EU sanctions — 15 February 2018, 17:12 CET

Facebook, Twitter and Google+ have made changes to their terms of service in an effort to comply with EU consumer protection rules, following a joint action of national consumer authorities. However, Facebook and Twitter have not complied with all the changes required.

European Union makes shopping without borders a reality — 06 February 2018, 14:20 CET

MEPs will vote today to make it easier for consumers to buy from, or access, a website based in another EU country. Through so-called geo-blocking practices traders often prevent consumers of other EU countries purchasing products from their online shops. The new measure will enter into force later this year, forbidding discrimination of consumers based on their nationality or place of residence.

Misleading food claims: 9 years and counting for EU to act — 26 January 2018, 11:09 CET

It’s already 9 years that BEUC and its member organisations began calling for nutrient profiles to be adopted. These tools would help slash the number of health and nutrition claims which give a healthy halo to unhealthy foods.